The Play's The Thing
by Crystal
Summary: Jane gets cast in the play, and gains a new enemy


Title: "The Play's The Thing" Part 1  
Category: Jane, Slayer : Story #3  
Characters: Jane, John, and Caitlyn makes a reappearance  
Rating: PG  
Disclaimer: Okay, so technically Jane, John and Caitlyn are mine, but since Joss is nice enough to let us use his characters, he can use mine (pretty pretty please)  
Summary:Jane finds that one of her new and worst enemies in Cannon Hill may not even be of the demon persuasion.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
Dr. Grady, English teacher, stood at the front of the class while the students counted down the minutes until the bell rang.  
  
"And I'm sure you're all eager to hear your homework assignment for tonight. Due to the... lethargic sign-up for auditions for the school musical, everyone is required to audition." A collective groan came from the students. Grady continued. "The auditions take place this afternoon at three o'clock sharp and attendance does count as a homework assignment. I expect to see you all there. Have a nice day."  
  
The bell rang and the students all stood and left, grumbling at their 'hoomework.' Jane walked with John to her locker and wondered aloud, "How can she make auditioning a requirement for an English class?"  
  
John sighed. "It's Grady. She's been here forever. She can do anything she wants."  
  
Jane made a face. "But I don't do... acting."  
  
John shrugged. "Well, if you're that bad, you won't get a part." They got to Jane's locker and John peeked around the corner. "Ah, there's Caitlyn. I'd better go."  
  
Jane laughed. "Your on-again, off-again, sado-masochistic relationship is on again?" she asked.  
  
John rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I guess. I'll see you later."  
  
He walked away as Jane laughed at him. That girl has him so whipped.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
After school, against her better judgement, Jane showed up in the classroom for the auditions. John was already there when she walked in.  
  
"Hey!" he greeted her. "You showed!"  
  
She sat down next to him. "Yeah, I figured I needed the homework credit. So what play is this for, anyway?"  
  
"It's called Crazy For You."  
  
Jane shook her head. "Never heard of it."  
  
"It's a musical."  
  
"Oh, fun," she retorted sarcastically as John saw Caitlyn enter with her group of friends.  
  
"I'd better go."  
  
She turned and saw them walk in. "Yeah. Go."  
  
He started to walk over to her, but as her friends sat, Caitlyn headed straight for Jane. She took John's hand and kissed him on the cheek, before pretending to just notice Jane. "Oh, hi," she said, overly cheerful. "Are you auditioning, Jane?"  
  
Jane smiled patiently. "Just for the English assignment."  
  
"Oh, well, that's good. Especially if you don't handle rejection well. The competition is very tough at this school. But don't worry. I'm sure you could be in the chorus. In the back." Caitlyn smiled.  
  
Oh, well, aren't you Miss Bitch? "So, who do you think will get the lead?"  
  
Caitlyn laughed. "Well, me, of course. Everyone knows that."  
  
Jane smiled. "Oh, really? Well, you know, you're such an inspiration to me that I think I might just try out for an actual part."  
  
Caitlyn's face dropped for a moment, but she resumed her smiling exterior promptly. "How cute. Well, best of luck." She took John and walked away as Dr. Grady stepped up in front.  
  
"Okay, nice to see such a big turnout. Now, remember to sign in if you haven't already. The play we're doing this year is Crazy For You. It's Gershwin. Great music. For the auditions, if you know a song from the show, sing it. Otherwise, sing anything. Sing 'Happy Birthday,' I don't care. I just need to know if you can carry a tune. After that, we'll teach you a little dance combination for you to do. Those who make it past those two rounds will do cold readings from the script. We'll go on a volunteer basis, so whoever wants to go first, get up there."  
  
Grady went to a table in the back as people started making a line to audition (mostly the people who were just there because of the English class). About an hour in, when most people had gone, Caitlyn stood.  
  
"I'll go now."  
  
The audience murmured as she walked up to the front.  
  
"Hello, my name is Caitlyn Bourne and I am auditioning for the role of Polly." She prepared herself and began singing.  
  
I've got rythym  
I've got music  
I've got my man  
Who could ask for anything more?  
  
Jane watched Caitlyn's performance and thought to herself, Wow. I feel like I'm watching a beauty pagent. And a bad one at that. Does she have Vasoline on her teeth?   
  
Old man Trouble  
I don't mind him  
  
Oh my God... she does!  
  
You won't find him   
Round my door.  
  
How is this girl considered the best girl in this school? Can't people see that she sucks?  
  
Who could ask  
For   
Anything...  
More.  
  
When she came to sit down, everyon clapped for her and congratulated her on what a wonderful job she had done. As she sat back down, she shot Jane a look saying, 'Top that.'  
  
She couldn't stand it any longer. Jane stood and walked to the front.  
  
"Hello, my name is Jane Collford and I am also auditioning for the role of Polly." She took a deep breath and began to sing.  
  
There's a saying old, says that love is blind.   
  
Caitlyn's jaw dropped at Jane's voice and John sat up straighter. Wow. Caitlyn must be shitting a brick.  
  
Still we're often told, seek and ye shall find.  
So I'm going to seek a certain lad I've had in mind.  
  
John (and the whole audience) sat transfixed, watching Jane sing beautifully... and better than Caitlyn.  
  
Looking everywhere, haven't found him yet.   
He's the big affair I cannot forget  
Only man I ever think of with regret  
I'd like to add his initial to my monogram  
Tell me, where is the shepard for this lost lamb?  
  
Caitlyn looked back at Dr. Grady to see her expression. To Caitlyn's displeasure, Grady looked amazed. That little bitch. Where did she come from, anyway?  
  
There's a somebody I'm longing to see  
I hope that he  
Turns out to be  
Someone who'll watch over me.  
  
Jane continued the song as John sat, staring at her. He couldn't believe it. She was so good. She just had this way of making him think that she was singing directly to him.  
  
She finished the song and the whole audience clapped and whistled for her. She smiled at Caitlyn and sat down right next to John. He leaned over to her.  
  
"I thought you didn't know the show?"  
  
She shrugged. "I just remembered I did."  
  
"And I thought you didn't do... acting."  
  
"Now I do."  
  
He leaned into her ear and whispered, "Well, you're blowing Caitlyn away."  
  
She smiled mischievously. "Good."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
The auditions finished and the next day when Jane walked into 2nd period, she was greeted by the faces of Karen and Jill, two of Caitlyn's friends.  
  
"Caitlyn's going to kill you, you know that, right?" karen said excitedly.  
  
Jane was completely confused. "What?"  
  
"Didn't you see the cast list?" Jill asked to which Jane shook her head. "You're Polly! The lead! Caitlyn's just Irene. She's so mad!"  
  
Jane smiled. "Thanks, I guess." She walked away from them amd sat down behind John. "John, did you hear? Caitlyn's going to kill me because I got the lead."  
  
John smiled. "And this is a good thing?"  
  
Jane nodded. "Everyone seems to think so. Too bad I have to give it up now."  
  
John looked up shocked. "What? Why?"  
  
"Um, John, in case you haven't realized, my... extracurricular activities pretty much take up all my time."  
  
"So. You can... extracurricular... after rehearsals."  
  
She laughed. "No. I can't." Jane stood and walked up to Grady's desk. "Um, excuse me, Dr. Grady?"  
  
The teacher looked up from her desk. "Yes, Jane?"  
  
Jane shifted her weight nervously. "I'm sorry. i can't do the play. I just don't have the time. I have this job, you see, and it takes up all the free time I have. I just auditioned to prove the Caitlyn that I was better than her."  
  
Grady interrupted. "And you are. So now you're going to quit before you can fully show her how good you are?"  
  
Jane didn't really know how to respond. "Well, no, but..."  
  
Grady leaned forward. "Listen, personally, I'm sick of Caitlyn Bourne, but I've always had to cast her because she was the best we had. Now you're the best we have. Please. I swear, if I have to put up with her, 'I'm the lead' star-trips for one more year, I'll go on early retirement. Please. For me."  
  
Jane looked at her teacher and just couldn't find it in her to say no. "Fine... okay. I'll do it."  
  
Grady sat up. "Fabulous! The first cast meeting is tomorrow after school, in here. I'll expect you to be there."  
  
Jane smiled. "Yeah, sure."  
  
"Great."  
  
Jane went back to her seat behind John and sat down. John turned to her. "Grady talked you out of it, huh?"  
  
Jane grumbled. "Yeah."  
  
John smiled. "I knew she would."  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Jane sat, reading her script on the first day of rehearsal as John walked in and sat next to her.  
  
"Did you read this?" she asked him.  
  
John didn't know what she meant. "Of course. What?"  
  
She held the script up to him and pointed at a page. "We kiss. You're my... love interest." She looked sick to her stomach.  
  
"Oh, well, gee. It's nice to know you think so much of me."  
  
"No, it's just... well, Caitlyn hates me enough already. Why don't I just run over her puppy so she can hate me completely?"  
  
John laughed. "She already hates you completely."  
  
Jane rolled her eyes. "That's comforting. What did I ever do to her?"  
  
"You exist. And you're better than her. In Caitlyn-World, that's just wrong."  
  
"Great," she mumbled as Dr. Grady motioned for everyone to get onstage.   
  
"Come on, people. We only have four weeks left to get this play on."  
  
They began rehearsals and Jane stood with John at the front of the stage. They were going back and forth through lines and blocking. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Jane heard someone scream. She looked up and saw a light falling straight for her. She managed to jump out of the way, just as it came crashing down right where she was standing. Jane stood up, and brushed herself off as John ran over to her.   
  
"Are you okay? What happened?"  
  
She was still a little dazed. "I don't know," she replied as she began walking over to the side of the stage. She walked backstage and saw, standing right next to the flys, Caitlyn, reading her script. The rest of the cast came up behind Jane, and stared at Caitlyn.  
  
She noticed all the eyes on her. "What? Is it my cue?"  
  
John stepped up next to Jane. "What are you doing back here Caitlyn?"  
  
"I was just studying my lines. Why?"  
  
He stepped forward, accusingly. "A light just dropped from the flyspace and almost hit Jane."  
  
Caitlyn smiled and looked at Jane. "Oh, poor dear. Do you want me to get a band-aid for you?" She laughed, but as she realized that no one else was laughing, she stopped. "What? Do you think I did it?" Everyone was silent. "I'm sorry, but even though she doesn't deserve the role, I wouldn't do something like that."  
  
The crowd started mururing to themselves. Jane, who had not taken her eyes off of Caitlyn the enitre time, spoke. "You guys, Caitlyn didn't do it. It was just some freak accident. It's okay. Let's just... keep rehearsing."  
  
The cast went back to the stage, but Jane couldn't shake the feeling that something weird was going on.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
"And then, the light came plummeting down at me, and if I hadn't jumped out of the way in time, I would have gotten seriously hurt. Ooh, and the big thing: guess who was standing right by the flys."  
  
Giles sighed. "Who?"  
  
"Caitlyn. But I don't think she did it, for some reason. I don't know, maybe she did."  
  
Giles nodded. "This is all very fascinating, but I would like to know how your patrolling is going."  
  
Jane looked at her feet. "Well, actually... I didn't do any last night. But it was only last night. It will never happen again, I promise."  
  
Giles looked at her scornfully. "Jane, I'm happy that you're doing things and making new friends, but you cannot neglect your duties as a Slayer."  
  
"I know, I know, and I promise I'll patrol every night. Right now, I've got to go talk to Dr. Grady about some things. I see you later, Giles."  
  
She exited and Giles sighed deeply. He knew that she needed to have a life outside of Slaying, but he worried what would happen if she continued to neglect her duties. Well, I can't do anything about it now. I'll just have to wait and see.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
A couple of weeks went by, and Jane managed to juggle both the play and her Slaying. Once or twice she had gone a day without patrolling, but it was generally okay. Weird thing has stopped happening. Caitlyn still hated her and made snide comments about her whenever possible, but hey, some things never change.  
  
At a rehearsal later that week, they finally got to rehearse with the sets. Jane was in her blocked place, waiting for the music to start when she looked to the right and saw the saloon set heading straight for her. She was about to run, but John bum-rushed her, getting her out of the way first.  
  
She laid on the floor, underneath John, breathing heavily as the cast ran up.  
  
"Are you okay?" "What happened?" "What was that?"  
  
People all over were asking questions as John stood and helped her up. He looked at her straight in the eyes. "Are you alright?"  
  
She nodded, but looked behind him to see Caitlyn standing right where the set had come from. Everyone else noticed this, too and Dr. Grady came up on the stage and walked straight to Caitlyn.  
  
"Okay, this is too much of a coincidence, missy. I know that your ego can't take not being the lead in everything, and I can deal with your little mood swings and bitchiness towards Jane, but when you resort to physical harm!" She paused and pointed towards the doors. "Get out of my auditorium and I never want to see you in here again!"  
  
Caitlyn looked around for a moment, then walked away, as everyone cheered to her leaving. Everyone except Jane. Jane walked to the dressing room as she heard Dr. Grady announce behind her, "Okay, everyone. That's it for today. We'll continue tomorrow. And get stoppers on those wheels!"  
  
Jane walked into the dressing room and splashed some cold water on her face. When she looked up into the mirror, she saw someone standing behind her, but when she turned around, they were gone. Okay, seeing things... not a good thing. I think I'm spending too much time here. She set the towel down as a lightbulb flew at her from the side. It hit the wall right next to her and Jane looked all around. Now I'm in a room all by myself and things are flying at me. Okay, sufficantly freaked out now! She started walking for the door as various other things; nails, wrenches, paint brushes, flew at her. She screamed as she tried to done the flying tools and just as a hammer was rocketing towards her, the door opened and the hammer flew by, barely missing John.  
  
"What the hell was that!?"  
  
She grabbed John's arm. "I don't know, but we're going to see Giles."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
The two entered the library just as Giles was getting ready to leave.  
  
"What's going on?" Giles asked, concerned at the frightened look on Jane's face.  
  
"Okay, remember when I said I didn't think it was Caitlyn trying to hurt me? I know it's not, now. Unless she's like a witch or something. What can we find out about that auditorium?"  
  
John got on the computer and started looking through old newspaper clippings as Jane sat down, almost shaking a little and explained the entire story to Giles.  
  
"Sounds like a poltergeist, possibly."  
  
"Yeah, and a mean mother at that!"  
  
John looked up from the computer. "Found it!" Giles and Jane walked over to look over his shoulder. "Okay. The auditorium was closed fifteen years ago after all the leads in this one play were badly injured by 'unusual circumstances.'"  
  
Okay, go on," Jane urged.   
  
"Now, go back one year, and you have the story of Kiely Anderson. She was the primadonna of the school's drama department. She was really good, too. The lead in every show. Well, her senior year, the night before the play opened, Kiely had a little too much fun at a party. She and her friends were pretty sloshed and they decided to break into the school and have a little fun. Unfortunately, her idea of fun was crossing the stage on the catwalks. Since she was drunk off her ass, she couldn't walk right and fell to her death, on the very stage she would have been performing on the next night."  
  
"Yikes," Jane said.  
  
"So, it appears that since she didn't get to perform that last night, she doesn't want anyone to."  
  
"There!" Jane pointed at the screen! "That's her! That's who I saw in the mirror just before the things started flying at me!"  
  
John looked at it. "Yep, that's her. So what are we going to do about it?"  
  
"I'd say we gewt everyone else out of there first, make sure no one else is in there for her to hurt." Jane suggested.  
  
John nodded. "Okay, we'll do that."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
Jane and John entered the auditorium and found the lights off. Jane looked around. "Everyone must be gone---" Giles stated.  
  
John cuthim off as he heard something backstage. She heard it, too. They walked back there and found Caitlyn by the sets, taking screws out.  
  
"What do you think you're doing!?" John shouted.  
  
Caitlyn jumped up. "Nothing. I was just...."  
  
"You were just trying to break the sets," John finished for her. She had nothing to say for herself. "Well, you'd better leave before we tell anyone that you were here."   
  
The three walked Caitlyn to the door, but as John held it open, it suddenly slammed shut violently and Jane got a cold chill.  
  
"Oh, shit." she remarked.  
  
"Is it....?" Giles asked.  
  
Jane nodded, scared. Oh, shit, what are we going to do now?  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Caitlyn went to the door and shook the handles, but they wouldn't budge. She turned to the group. "Okay, what is this, some kind of a joke?"  
  
Jane shook her head as she walked backwards. John followed her. "I don't like this."   
  
Jane replied, "I know what you mean."  
  
Caitlyn stamped her foot on the ground. "Well, I don't. What's going on here?" As she asked her question, the lights went out and she screamed loudly. "Okay, the joke's not funny anymore. I want out!" She reached for the door handles again, but this time when she touched them, a spark of electricity went out that knocked Caitlyn to the chairs, unconscious.  
  
John ran over to check on her. "It's okay, she's just unconscious."  
  
Giles turned to where he thought Jane was in the darkened auditorium. "We need to find a way out of here... Jane?" He noticed that she was no longer standing in front of him. "Jane, where did you go?"  
  
Through the crack of light between the doors, he could see her standing on the stage, front and center. "Jane," he yelled. "What are you doing up there?"  
  
Jane stood on the stage and began chanting, "Exe corpus Vertum. Exe corpus Vertum. Exe corpus Vertum"  
  
John turned to Giles "What is she doing?"  
  
Giles shook his head. "I don't know." As he said this, the auditorium lights came back on and the doors opened. Jane smiled and ran down from the stage.  
  
"Okay, let's get out of here fast. John, grab Caitlyn."  
  
They did what she said and left the auditorium.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
Back in the library, John set Caitlyn down on a couch in the office and Jane headed straight for the books. Giles followed her.  
  
"How... How," he stammered. "How did you know to do that?"  
  
Jane leafed through the books as she answered his question. "Temporary exorcism. Gets a ghost off of your back long enough to make an escape. Bryan taught it to me. For emergencies."  
  
"Well, what are you looking for now? A full exorcism?"  
  
She frowned. "No, I don't want to do that. I'm looking for another alternative."   
  
She continued to leaf as Giles sat down next to her. "What other alternative?"  
  
Jane found the page she was looking for. "Here!" She read, as Giles read over her shoulder.  
  
Giles looked at her, shocked. "You're not really going to do that, are you?"  
  
Jane bookmarked the page and closed it. "Why not?"  
  
Giles was flustered. "Well... well, because it's dangerous. What if the spirit doesn't want to leave?"  
  
"Hey, I deal with danger on a daily basis. I think I can take a little ghost." She went to the office and peaked her head in. "John, when Caitlyn wakes up, tell her that it was an electrical short that made the lights go out and it accidentally electrified the door."  
  
John nodded. "Yeah. Where are you going?"  
  
"To make a little negotiation with the ghost."  
  
"What?!" John asked, confused, but Jane was already out the door.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
Jane entered the auditorium cautiously. "Here, ghosty, ghosty, ghosty." Oh, yeah, that'll work Jane, she thought. She walked further in.   
  
"Hello? Kiely? That's your name, right?" The doors slammed shut behind her. "Okay, please don't hurt me. I'm only trying to help you. Listen, I know what happened to you. How you died the night before opening night. That's why you're here, isn't it? You want to do your last performance that you never got to do, right? I know a way that maybe you can. Do you wanna hear it?"  
  
A moment later, a chair came up behind Jane, almost as if the ghost was offering for her to sit down.   
  
Jane smiled. "Thanks. Okay, so here's what we can do...."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
Jane was outside, greeting the crowd after opening night, as Giles walked up to her. "Very nice."   
  
She smiled and nodded. "Thank you very much. Aren't you glad you let me do it, now?"  
  
Giles frowned. "I suppose, but I expect you to get back to your duties next week."  
  
"Actually, I though I would quit school and head out to LA to become a famous actress." She saw the scornfully look on Giles' face. "Just kidding. Hey, what's that behind your back?" He pulled out flowers and Jane smiled. "Oh, for me?" She reached for them and he pulled them away.   
  
"No, not for you. They're for the ghost. After all, she is the one who was on that stage tonight, right?"  
  
Jane took the flowers, anyway. "Yes, but I am obliged to accept all gifts on her behalf."  
  
She smelled the flowers as John came up behind her. "Hey. So, tell me, what was it like?"  
  
Jane made a face. "I don't know. Weird. Kinda cold."  
  
Giles stood there, looking at her. "I have to ask: Why didn't you want to do an exorcism? Why did you let the ghost borrow your body to do the show?"  
  
She took her flowers and held them to her. "I don't know. I guess I kind of felt for her. I mean, she hadn't done anything wrong. She just wanted to perform one last time, and she never got to. And you know that movie, Beetlejuice, and there's that scene at the end where they're exorcising Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis... well, I just couldn't do that to her. So, I figured, I can give her something she wants, and then, she'd be happy, and wouldn't haunt anyone anymore. That's all."  
  
Both males stood, looking at her in amazement. Giles shooked his head. "First that you can cast spells, now this. I am amazed by you each and every day. Are you sure there's nothing else that you're not telling us?"  
  
She smiled and shook her head. "Nope. Nothing." She frowned suddenly. "Oh, there was that person in Boise that I killed, but other than that..."  
  
Giles smiled tightly. "Yes, funny. Well, I'll let you two change out of your costumes. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye."  
  
"Bye, Giles."  
  
"See you, Giles," John said over his shoulder as the two walked back to the dressing rooms. "That was awfully nice of you. The thing with the ghost. And getting Caitlyn her part back."  
  
Jane shrugged. "Yeah, well, it was only fair. She still doesn't like me, though."  
  
"Yeah." John turned to Jane as they walked backstage. "Um, do you... well, can you remember anything from when the ghost was in you?"  
  
"I don't know. Why?"  
  
They stopped at the girl's dressing room door. "Oh, nothing. Nevermind."  
  
"Okay," Jane opened the door and walked in. John started to walk away. A split second later, she stuck her head out again. "John?"  
  
He turned around. "Yeah."  
  
She smiled. "Try not to slobber too much during the kiss tomorrow night, 'k? Good night." She said in a singsong voice as she closed the door to John's startled expression.  
  
He saw the door close and smiled. I think that's a hint. Yep, definately. She likes me.  
  
  



End file.
